26 things before 27

For the past couple of years I’ve used my birthday as a time of reflection on where I’ve been and where I’d like to go. There’s nothing concretely symbolic about birthdays, just like there’s nothing magical about choosing January 1 as the day that you’ll really start making an effort to get this whole life thing right. But obviously the older I get the more this phrase rings true: “The days are long, but the years are short,” and I don’t want to look back on my 20s and wish I would have slowed down to live a little.

So, for me, the New Year is for resolutions, but birthdays are for bucket lists. The 26 things I’d like to do before I turn 27:

Travel to New York City

Ride a bike to a different town

Take a handful of yoga classes

Learn to bake a pie

Visit at least two new states

Fill up a journal

Paint something

Write a poem or a song

Take a solo overnight trip

Read all the unread books I own

Run a half marathon

Travel outside the country

Eat at CC’s City Broiler here in Columbia

Find an organization I think does good work here in town and volunteer my time for them